Black Pearl
by hummerhouse
Summary: There is more to this trip to Usagi's world than Leo's brothers know, believing they are there merely for the adventure. As long as they are content to stay behind while Usagi and Leo go on their mission, their ignorance is that pairs' bliss. Written for Alessa DC as part of the Show Your Love event. Parts are redacted due to FFnet's TOS. Uncensored version on my AO3 account.


Black Pearl  
for Alessa

"I still don't get why we couldn't go with them," Michelangelo grumbled, rubbing his hands together over the small outdoor fire.

"You heard Usagi," Donatello said. "He knows a cook who can sneak them into the mansion, but two is his limit. As it was, Leo had to remove his mask to prevent the cook from realizing he's a ninja."

Raphael finished off the fish they'd cooked for dinner and tossed the leftover bones into a trench they'd dug. After covering the trench, he took a seat near the fire and yawned.

"Who's up for first watch?" Raphael asked. "I'm beat."

"I'll take it," Don said. "I can get a better view of the woods if I set up in a tree."

"This little clearing should be hard to find," Raph said. "Usagi said not many travelers come this direction, so highwaymen have no reason to be in these woods."

"If you can trust Usagi," Mikey muttered.

"Seriously, what's crawled up your butt?" Raph asked. "Ya' don't hear me griping about being left out of the action. Usagi and Leo can handle themselves. They've sure as hell done it plenty of times in the past."

"One would think you were jealous, Mikey," Don said. "You must have come up with forty reasons why they should have taken you along."

"And all forty of them stunk," Raph said. "Give it a rest, Mikey. We knew when we got here that Usagi was gonna want to spend time with Leo, and vice versa."

"They're just friends, Mikey," Don said. "Just good friends."

"Sure they are," Mikey said, sitting down with a disgruntled huff. "I'm not jealous. I don't like when we separate, that's all."

"The mansion is only a few miles from here," Don said. "It's not like we're all that separated. Besides, we've got a job to do. If they aren't back by morning, we're the rescue party."

He grabbed his bo and headed into the tree line. A couple of seconds later his brothers saw him perched comfortably on a thick tree limb.

Raph yawned again and then lay down on his bedroll, pulling the blanket up to his chin. "Get some sleep, Mike. We're probably gonna have a long day tomorrow, depending on who Leo manages to piss off tonight."

Mikey shot a dirty glance in his direction, but Raph's eyes were already closed. With another dissatisfied grumble, Mikey sat down, tucking his knees up under his chin and keeping his eyes on the fire.

Sleep was the farthest thing from his mind.

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"At least these things don't smell as bad as the Neko ninjas' garb," Leonardo said, tugging at the pants, which seemed very constricting. "It doesn't feel right leaving my swords behind."

"We must appear to be peasants, Leonardo," Usagi told him. "I am afraid the weapons would give away our subterfuge."

The pair began stacking wood into a cart, working quickly so as to avoid questions from other peasants who might wander into the barn like structure. It was a small distance from the mansion, separated from the stables by a short wall and a row of hedges.

They had waited until dark to enter the barn, stowing their usual outerwear and weapons in rafters overhead. Approaching the kitchen side of the mansion with a wood cart would draw hardly any attention, as long as they looked their parts.

"This thing that we're after, how well guarded will it be?" Leo asked as they pushed the cart towards the mansion.

"Very well guarded," Usagi answered. "The Black Pearl is a symbol of the power of the Iruka clan and by their laws must be displayed by its current ruler during visitations by the rulers of any other clan."

Leo nodded, filing that information in his mind. "What happens if it is not displayed?"

"The visiting clan may lay claim to the Iruka's lands as forfeit for the slight shown to them," Usagi said. "The Neko clan has long wanted to strip the Iruka of their properties and leave them destitute."

"So when the pearl's disappearance coincided with a planned visit by the Neko's, Lord Aito hired you to locate it, suspecting that a Neko ninja had stolen it?" Leo asked.

"He is correct, I am certain of it. The Neko are without honor and Lord Junichiro is the worst of them," Usagi announced, his disdain obvious. "I would like to expose their treachery, but I do not know of any way to provide the Shogun with proof. He will not take the word of a single ronin and his ninja friend, no matter how honorable the pair may be."

"I'll settle for the look of surprise on Lord Junichiro's face when he sees the black pearl back where it belongs," Leo said.

"Your certainty of the outcome of our mission is admirable," Usagi said. "We are here."

Leo remained near the cart while Usagi went to knock on the kitchen door. It was immediately opened by the cook. Heat from the kitchen seeped out into the night air, along with the various smells from cooking food.

Usagi and the cook exchanged words in an undertone and then the samurai nodded in understanding. Returning to Leo's side, he said, "We must stack most of the wood against the side of the building to avoid suspicion. When that is done, we are to bring an armload each into the kitchen. Takoyaki will then offer us bowls of rice, which we will take to a far corner to consume. He will keep the rest of the kitchen staff busy so they will not notice that we have left."

As they began stacking the wood, Leo asked, "What will happen to Takoyaki if it is learned that he is the one who let thieves into the mansion?"

"He is a valued cook, sought after by many clans," Usagi said. "He will say that his job is to cook and that the guards did not do their job. No one will bother him."

Once the wood was neatly stacked, Usagi and Leo entered the kitchen, their arms loaded down to the point where the piled wood hid their faces. Takoyaki pointed at a spot near the large cooking stove and the duo walked past other servants to drop off the wood. They were pleased to note that no one else paid them any mind.

Almost as soon as they finished the job, Tokayaki was there to press bowls into their hands. He pointed again at a mat that was on the floor far from the main preparation area and in a shadowed alcove.

Usagi and Leo carried the bowls of steaming rice to the indicated spot and knelt on the mat. To keep up appearances, they began to eat, savoring the tasty fish and vegetables sitting atop the rice.

When it seemed that everyone's attention was directed elsewhere, they set their bowls aside and crept out of the kitchen. Tokayaki had given Usagi a map of the mansion, sketched with coal on a large leaf, and the samurai used it in order to orient himself.

"Someday you will have to tell me how you came to know Tokayaki," Leo whispered.

"It is a humorous tale," Usagi replied, keeping his voice down as well. "I will share it when we are not pressed for time."

The Lord, nobles, and higher ranking retainers had retired for the evening and most of the halls were dark. It was the time of day when the peasants, servants, and guards in service to the Lord had their dinner, which meant there were very few inhabitants roaming about.

There were guards posted near the chambers inhabited by the upper echelon of the household. That was not their destination though; the room Usagi and Leo needed to get into was just off of the large audience hall. It was where items of value were stored and where Tokayaki had assured Usagi the black pearl could be found.

Peering around a corner into the hallway which led to the double doored entrance of the audience hall, the duo saw that a pair of guards stood watch. They both appeared sleepy, having already eaten their dinner.

Pulling back, Usagi conferred with Leo in an undertone. "We could easily defeat them, but they would see us coming and raise the alarm."

Leo tapped lightly on the wall next to him. "According to your map, the audience hall is on the other side of this wall, correct?"

"Yes," Usagi said.

Looking up, Leo could see that the roof beams were suspended above the ceiling to the individual rooms. "We'll go up. Don gave me something to help with our breaking and entering venture," he said, patting the belt he wore beneath the waistband of his hakama.

Leaping high, Leo caught hold of one of the beams and pulled himself up. Bracing the backs of his calves against the beam, he hung down and reached for Usagi, who jumped up to catch his hand.

Once Usagi was amongst the beams with him, Leo crept farther over the audience hall. As he suspected, there was a space between the roof and ceiling that was large enough to accommodate him, as long as he was lying flat.

When Leo paused, Usagi stopped too, his body against the turtle's. "Let me see the map," Leo whispered.

Holding it so that Leo could see it, Usagi whispered, "There will be guards inside the audience hall watching the treasury room."

"We're going directly into the treasury room," Leo told him.

Usagi stared at him, puzzled. "How will we do that? The only entrance is inside the hall."

Leo's only response was an enigmatic smile. He started moving again, and Usagi went with him, noting that Leo was now angled towards the ceiling above the treasury room.

When he was over the area where he calculated the treasury room to be, Leo carefully slithered down from the beams and onto the top of its ceiling. He signaled for Usagi to remain where he was and then pressed his forehead against the wooden paneling in order to see through the small gap between the panels.

The map they were following was by no means to scale and Leo found himself looking into the audience hall. Almost directly below him were the two guards assigned to protect the treasury.

Leo crept backwards in total silence, periodically stopping to take note of his location in reference to the treasury room. He could see shelves loaded with items the Neko clan considered precious and knew he was in the right place, but wanted to be as far from the guards as possible.

He found a likely spot to enter the treasury room near a back corner. Though the wooden braces of the framework were tightly fitted, the ceiling panels that slotted into those braces were of a thinner wood. Some moisture had gotten onto one and slightly warped the wood so that the slots were no longer perfectly aligned.

With a glance upwards, Leo caught Usagi's eye and the rabbit moved down from the rafter beams to join his friend.

"Stay on one of the braces," Leo instructed. "I'm going to remove this panel."

"Careful of the noise, Leonardo," Usagi said. "The guards are not far away."

Unknotting the ties to his hakama, Leo reached into his belt and extracted the miniature sawzall that Don had brought with him in his bag of tricks. It was battery powered, with a blade that receded into the handle when not in use.

Activating the sawzall, Leo began cutting along the wooden slots, easily sawing through them with a minimum of sound. When he had cut through one end, Usagi held onto the loose board so that it wouldn't creak while Leo cut away the remaining slots.

It wasn't long before the panel was no longer attached to anything and could be completely lifted out of the way. Usagi dropped through the opening first, followed by Leo, who found the fit tight but manageable.

Leo glanced around with a touch of dismay at the room crowded with things of all shapes and sizes. "Got any idea as to where that pearl might be?" he asked quietly.

Usagi ran a finger over a jade pendant and said, "Look for something that is not covered in dust."

They each took one side of the room and began a quick search. It wasn't long before Leo discovered an ornately designed case that did not have a speck of dust on its surface.

Flipping the lid open, he saw a smooth round object, black in color and about half the size of a golf ball.

"Is this it?" Leo asked, holding the case out so that Usagi could see his find.

"Yes," Usagi said. Taking a bag from inside his hakama, Usagi plucked the pearl from its cushion and placed it into the bag. As he carefully tucked the pearl away, he said, "Put the case back exactly as you found it. They must not realize that the pearl has been retrieved."

After Leo had returned the case to where it had been, he gave Usagi a boost back up through the opening and then pulled himself through as well. Using a few pieces of small bric-a-brac he'd taken from a bowl, he filled in the spots where he'd had to saw. Leo then fitted the panel back into place so that it wouldn't be obvious that it had been removed.

Leo returned the sawzall to his belt and tightened the ties on his hakama before the pair began crawling back to the hallway they'd started from. When they hopped down from the roof beams, Leo said, "Now all we have to do is exit the way we came in and no one will be the wiser."

A few minutes later they were nearly within sight of the kitchen when loud voices stopped them in their tracks. Shrinking back into a far corner, they listened as someone who was probably a guard demanded to know who had left the wood cart parked near the door.

"I am afraid you have spoken too soon, Leonardo," Usagi said. "We must find another way out."

"Preferably without been seen," Leo whispered as Usagi referred to his map, which was starting to fall apart.

"There," Usagi said, pointing in a direction farther down from the kitchen. "That is where the wash is taken."

Together they sprinted down the hall, already hearing the footsteps of other guards arriving to investigate the mystery of the wood cart. The washing room was quite a ways away from the main part of the house and they had to pass through two separate shoji doors to reach it.

Linens were piled in corners, some ready to be washed and others neatly folded. The room was still warm from the pots of heated water that the duo ran past.

At the farthest end was an opening through which water was dumped. The washing room was suspended above a natural spring and a rope and pulley system had been devised as a way to pull fresh water into the house.

In the dark it was difficult to determine how deep that pool of water actually was. Standing at the opening, Leo shook his head. "I don't think we should just jump. Hang onto the rope and I'll lower you down."

Stepping onto the edge of the water pot, Usagi grabbed onto the rope and Leo quickly lowered him into the water. Leo swiftly followed, holding onto the rope and sliding down to join his friend.

As it turned out, the water was only up to their shoulders. Making as little noise as possible, they swam to the other end of the spring. Before they could exit though, they heard the squeaking sound of the wood cart's wheels and realized someone was returning it to the barn. They also heard voices indicating that there was more than one person making that trip.

Squatting so that only their heads were above water, Leo said, "Our gear and weapons are in that barn."

"We must retrieve them, but I do not know how long we would have to wait. If the guards send out a patrol to search the grounds, we would be trapped here," Usagi said.

"Stay right here," Leo said. "I'll get our things without drawing attention."

"I do not like that you are going alone," Usagi said.

Leo smiled. "I'm a ninja, remember? They'll never know I was there."

Usagi watched as Leo slid out of the water, making no sound whatsoever. In the blink of an eye he had disappeared into the nighttime shadows and as hard as Usagi tried, he couldn't see him.

Adrenaline pumped through Usagi's system, the excitement of hunting and being hunted as electrifying as any battle he'd ever joined. He was Samurai and as such, the hiding and creeping about was foreign to him. It was not an approach he would ever had attempted if not for his friendship with Leonardo.

The turtle had great influence over Usagi and was held in high regard by him. In fact, Leonardo was much more to him than just a friend and he was gratified to have learned only a year ago that the ninja returned his affections.

It was difficult for them to find time to be alone together. Usagi was grateful to have received this mission, as dangerous as it was, because it afforded him the luxury of having Leonardo all to himself.

Leonardo's brothers did not seem to suspect there was anything between them other than friendship, except perhaps for Michelangelo. The orange banded turtle was quite insightful and had seemed to see through their pretense of merely being friends.

Unfortunately, Michelangelo also seemed to be quite dissatisfied with that concept. He was, for lack of a better word, rather hostile.

Though it felt like an eternity, it was actually not long before Leonardo returned carrying their weapons, his gear, and Usagi's regular clothing. He squatted amongst the reeds and shrubbery at one side of the spring, using hand signs to indicate that Usagi should come towards him.

Because there were still sounds of people milling around the complex, Usagi remained low in the water and when he reached its edge, crawled out through the mud. He grimaced as he felt it sticking to his fur and working its way under his clothes, but there was little he could do about it at the moment.

Usagi followed Leo's lead in getting them out of the area and into the surrounding woods. They put a mile between them and the mansion before slowing down.

"Did you hear anything while retrieving our weapons?" Usagi asked.

"Just a guard fussing about careless servants," Leo said. "They sent out a patrol to check around the grounds, but I got the feeling it was more a case of playing it safe rather than actually believing anyone had trespassed."

"Then perhaps Lord Aito will be able to surprise Lord Junichiro when he arrives for his visit," Usagi said. "As much as I dislike clan politics, it might be worth attending the festivities just to see the look on Lord Junichiro's face."

He and Leo chuckled, amused at the joke they had a hand in playing on such a scoundrel as Junichiro.

"I suppose we shouldn't waste too much more time in getting back to my brothers," Leo said, a wistful note in his voice.

Usagi eyed him, taking note of the mud that also caked his form. "We should not return in this condition," he said, indicating the mud matted into his fur. "I certainly do not wish to change into my clean clothing while mud spattered."

"I'm pretty sure we passed another spring fed pond on our way here," Leo said, a smile etching his lips. "We can make a stop there."

They set off again with a sense of urgency that had nothing to do with possible pursuit. In each other's eyes they had seen a mutual need, one that had not been satisfied in many months.

As always, Leo's memory was perfect. The spring, one of many in the area, was different in that it was fed by heated groundwater. Upon reaching it, the pair wasted no time divesting themselves of their peasant garb and slipping into the warm water.

Both sighed simultaneously as the water closed around their forms, taking the chill from their bodies. They immediately pressed against one another, mouths connecting in a deep, thirsty kiss.

"I need you, Usagi-chan," Leo murmured against Usagi's lips.

"I too have waited far too long, koibito," Usagi said. "The distance between us is oftentimes maddening."

Leo slid his hands along Usagi's ears, using the water to wash the mud from them. It was an intimate gesture and one that was very stimulating to the rabbit. Eyes half closed, he waited with mounting desire as Leonardo used his fingertips to clean the mud from his fur, every stroke of his hands filled with sensual purpose.

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It took a little time before the pair came down from their orgasmic highs enough to climb out of the water. They moved over to where they'd left their things and lay down on the grass together.

A mild breeze blew across them, helping to dry Usagi's fur. On a whim, Leo dug the black pearl out of the little bag and held it against the white fur covering Usagi's chest.

"Nice contrast," Leo murmured, watching the whiteness dance across the pearl's dark surface.

"For a thing to hold such value is beyond my reckoning," Usagi said, enjoying the view of his lover's face.

"Surely you place a value upon your swords," Leo said, returning the pearl to its bag but remaining propped on one elbow so that he could look at Usagi.

"Only in that they are necessary to my survival," Usagi said. "It is only living beings who have true value. For me, there is but one who has the highest value of all."

He cupped Leo's cheek and the turtle moved down to kiss him. "I too have no use for material things," Leo whispered. "This . . . these moments between us . . . are far too few, but I cherish them beyond measure."

Holding out his arms, Usagi pulled Leo against him, cradling him in a tight embrace. "Then let us stretch this time out for as long as possible, koibito."

Their lips met again. Both knew that duty would move them from this spot soon enough; one called into service to make his living, the other bound to brothers who awaited his return.

In this small fragment of time though, they could pretend that nothing else existed. Let the world stop revolving for a brief period; they had earned the reprieve.

Fin


End file.
